November 19, 2018 @ 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm

The opioid crisis is affecting Albertans in every community, however most attention and resources have been directed to large cities. Rural communities have fewer local resources, including access to counselling and treatment, and are often under- equipped to support people locally who are struggling with substance use or addiction. The Metis Nation of Alberta in partnership with Alberta Health Services would like to help close that gap by hosting a focus group that will discuss: current services/ resources already established in the Manning area, barriers faced when accessing services and desired services or resources. Once all of the information is gathered from the focus group sessions, the Metis Nation will be creating a Opioid “specific tool kit” and will be delivering it to Peace River in March 2019.

We will be heading up to Peace River on November 19th at the Region 6 Metis Nation of Alberta office, main boardroom ( 9621- 90 Ave) from 4:00pm-8:00pm to host our focus group as well as a FREE Naloxone training session. There is a registration because we would like to provide a meal for everyone, so we want to make sure we are ordering enough food. But registration will be open until November 18th. However, if people show up the day of, we will not turn anyone away ! Please note that this event is FREE and OPEN TO EVERYONE. Please feel free to contact amochid@ metis.org or call (780) 455-2200 Ext. 419 to register. Below I will provide a breakdown, of what a Naloxone training session includes:

– Definition and facts around the varying type of opioids

– Facts about Fentanyl and Carfenanil

– 2017 and current 2018 statistics

– Harm Reduction- definition, strategies, examples

– Symptoms and recognition of an opioid overdose

– Discussion on the qualities of naloxone

-How to respond to an opioid overdose using the SAVE ME steps

– How to use all the components in your take home naloxone kit ( everyone gets their own kit to take home).